News

Around 1,800 troops from NATO Allies Bulgaria, Canada, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Spain are taking part in the Romania-led exercise SCORPIONS FURY 18 from 5 to 16 November.

ANAKONDA 2018, a Polish-led multinational exercise, which began on 7 November, today completed its first week. The exercise involves around 12,500 troops in Poland and approximately 5,000 troops in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The exercise demonstrated the interoperability of the Polish Armed Forces with participating troops from 10 NATO Allies: Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey and United States.

Three technologies on detection and clearance of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), namely a semi-autonomous robot for detection of mines and IEDs, a lightweight and easy-to-use mine detector and a handheld detector for dirty bombs, were successfully tested in Florence, Italy on 17 and 18 October 2018. These technologies are developed in the framework of NATO’s Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme.

In a speech hosted by the German Atlantic Society in Berlin on Monday (12 November 2018), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg underscored the importance of the transatlantic bond at a time of unprecedented security challenges. In particular, Mr Stoltenberg warned that the deployment of new Russian SSC-8 missiles puts the historic INF treaty at jeopardy, calling on Russia to ensure full compliance with the treaty.

NATO does not recognise the reported elections held on 11 November in the self-proclaimed and unrecognised “Luhansk People’s Republic” and “Donetsk People’s Republic.” They run contrary to the letter and spirit of the Minsk Agreements and undermine efforts towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is taking part in a ceremony of remembrance in Paris on Sunday (11 November 2018) for the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War. Mr. Stoltenberg joined other world leaders at the Arc de Triomphe to mark the exact moment that the guns fell silent, ending four terrible years of conflict. Speaking after the ceremony, Mr. Stoltenberg said, "today, we stand together in remembrance of all the lives lost in World War One, and we pay tribute to all those who serve. Let us never take peace and freedom for granted."

On 11 October, 2018, the Centre for Integrity in the Defence Sector (CIDS) hosted a conference entitled, “Why building integrity, institution building and anti-corruption belong on the security agenda”. Discussions covered the wider context of Building Integrity (BI).

The annual Building Integrity (BI) Discipline Conference took place at NATO Defense College on 10 and 11 October, 2018 in Rome, Italy. Experts on BI, including representatives from NATO Headquarters and Commands, as well as academics and practitioners from member and partner countries discussed the role of BI in defence, security and education.

Clare Hutchinson, Special Representative for Women, Peace and Security, visited NATO’s peace-keeping mission in Kosovo (KFOR) on Wednesday (7 November 2018). Ms. Hutchinson discussed the promotion of the Women, Peace and Security agenda with the commander of KFOR, Major General Salvatore Cuoci. The commander briefed the Special Representative on the many initiatives to ensure a gender perspective is incorporated across all KFOR operations and training.

The NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller visited Beijing on 24-26 October 2018 and participated in 8th Xiangshan Forum. Speaking at a special session on Artificial Intelligence, Gottemoeller highlighted how technological advances provide challenges as well as opportunities and discussed how NATO is working to ensure it stays ahead of the curve. “We do this by working together, among our 29 members and with our partners and international organisations. And of course, we work with the private sector to take full advantage of the latest innovations and to maintain our technological edge”.